Bagaboo Jumbo – one of my best purchases 2015

And that’s in competition with a CX bike purchase.

I started to commute by bike to work again at the end of summer. We have moved since the last time I did this and I have about 19 km one way now. When I spend roughly 9 hours a week commuting by bike it’s a bit easier to motivate purchases purely for that activity and I felt I wanted a backpack which could fit my work laptop and winter clothing without having to lay a puzzle every morning.

I looked at different bags and had almost settled for a Chrome Industries Barrage but when checking it out in a store it wasn’t that much larger than my current backpack. I also felt I would miss pockets for smaller items, the Barrage has none as far as I understand (except for a laptop sleeve and an enormous compartment between the outer and inner layer which can be access from the top of the bag). The same store had a Bagaboo Jumbo, which on first sight looked huge and not as stylish as the Barrage but after a bit of thinking I decided it was closer to what I was looking for and bought it instead. It was also more comfortable on my back than the Barrage.

At first I didn’t care for the looks but I’m getting used to it and I now think it’s quite nice. The Barrage is more of what I would be comfortable with wearing for a walk in the city (in terms of looks) but the Bagaboo Jumbo has a rough functional look which I’m starting to think is quite nice.

Three outside pockets on the back.

The bag is closed by a rolltop and has three external pockets on the back with an additional pocket open on both sides (behind the lower pocket). The pockets are thin but can hold small items like wallet, keys and gloves. The top pocket is quite tall but overlaps the other pockets and competes with what’s inside the bag for space.

Rolltop closure.

Chest strap with plastic buckles, not as fancy as on the Chrome bags but functional.

Middle outer pocket.

Lower outer pocket.

The bag has a very comfortable shoulder straps but there is a lot of fabric around the neck so it gets a bit warm. Not a problem now in winter but I expect to get sweaty in the summer.

Comfortable shoulder padding.

The bag is huge but it compresses well when not fully filled and I’m not bothered by the size. The main point of buying new bag was to get more room.

Compression straps on the sides.

It has a clean outside but there are three loops on the back which can be used to attach additional lights, can probably be used for other things also but since I prefer to not attach stuff on the outside of bags I haven’t used them at all yet.

Blinky holder on the back.

When the bag opens up it gets very tall. I have used it to carry large cardboard boxes which go all the way to the top but then it’s not possible to close the flap, even if it expands to be able to close the bag when filled up. I haven’t tried how tall items I can carry and still being able to close the flap but I guess you need to be able to close the rolltop at least a little for it to work.

Open bag, the flap for closing the bag is expandable so you can use it even when filling the bag.

Waterproof inside.

Inside mesh pockets to keep smaller items in one place.

On the back of my 174 cm (~5’9) girlfriend (wearing a thick down jacket).

To summarize I’m really happy with the bag, much more than I thought I would be when I bought it. It may be stupid but I feel using it makes my commute more fun 🙂